A woman who has shed 5st 10lbs – and gone from a size 22 to a size 12 in 18 months – is sharing how she ‘finally likes her reflection in the mirror’.

Amy Carding, 38, from Manchester, spent years ‘yo-yo’ dieting but in 2024 started funding her weight-loss jabs by documenting the transformation on social media.

After giving birth to her daughter Raine three years ago, Amy reached her heaviest weight of 17st 7lb (111.1kg) – and admitted it began ‘affecting her confidence’.

She would ‘avoid’ going out, and struggled to play with her newborn, even avoiding taking family photos together.

In October 2024, she found Mounjaro – a once-weekly injectable prescription medication containing the active ingredient tirzepatide – and saw results within a month.

In just four weeks, she had lost one stone (6.4kg), and took to documenting the transformation on her TikTok channel, where she has since racked up thousands of views.

She now weighs 11st 11lb (74.8kg) and ‘feels like a new woman’.

Amy Carding, 38, from Manchester, spent years ‘yo-yo’ dieting but in 2024 started funding her weight-loss jabs by documenting the transformation on social media 

‘It’s literally changed my life, I feel 1,000 times better,’ Amy, a midday assistant at a school shared. ‘Before, I felt so depressed about my weight, now I actually like what I see in the mirror.

‘It feels like a miracle.’

Amy, who lives with her partner Dale, said she is also now more sociable, confident and able to enjoy running around with her children, Lucas, 15, Autumn, nine, and Raine, three. 

She funds the jabs – which are around £300 a month – using the income generated from her TikTok account.

Under the handle @amy_lisa29, she shares videos showing her before-and-after photos and regularly tells her more than 5,000 followers what she eats in a day.

Amy also has a series called ‘Weigh-in Wednesdays’, where she steps on the scales and discusses how much weight she has lost that week.

Amy began piling on the pounds after giving birth to Raine in January 2023.

In March of the same year, she said her GP put her on a waiting list for a weight management appointment, which she described as a ‘bit of a wake-up call’.

She would try to ‘be good’ and eat healthier, but after a few weeks she would ‘have extra treats’ and fall off the wagon.

By the following summer, Amy – standing at 5ft 2in – was at her heaviest, wearing a size 22, and had an obese BMI of 44.8.

She explained had spent ‘most’ of her adult life gaining and losing weight – but after having a baby, felt her confidence plummet.

‘I didn’t feel great. My skin was bad, and I didn’t take a lot of pictures with the baby,’ Amy recalled.

‘I didn’t go out much, I just wasn’t socialising. I was a bit depressed and avoided people.

‘I found it hard juggling the baby and cooking, and it got to the point where my knees were so sore.

‘I couldn’t bend down to pick Raine up properly, or play with her on the floor.’

At the time, a typical day would involve a bacon sandwich for breakfast, a Pot Noodle for lunch, ‘living off coffees and biscuits’ between meals, and a takeaway pizza most evenings for dinner.

Determined to make a change, Amy began researching weight-loss medication, and started taking Mounjaro prescribed through an online pharmacy with her GP’s approval.

At first, she was ‘quite nervous’. 

‘I felt like I was going to turn into the Incredible Hulk or something, injecting myself,’ she shared. ‘But it was actually fine – I didn’t feel too nauseous.

‘It really quietened the food noise. I had to remind myself to eat because I wasn’t getting hungry at all.’

After a few months, she did suffer with some side effects, including symptoms which felt ‘very similar’ to pregnancy sickness but felt better after using Sea-Band acupressure bands.

After the initial one-stone weight loss, she has carried on losing around a pound a month. 

At 18 months in, she went down to size 12, and now weighs 11st 11lb (74.8kg), with an obese BMI of 30.2.

A woman who has shed 5st 10lbs – and gone from a size 22 to a size 12 in 18 months – is sharing how she ‘finally likes her reflection in the mirror’. Amy pictured before her weight loss

Determined to make a change, Amy began researching weight-loss medication , and started taking Mounjaro prescribed through an online pharmacy with her GP’s approval. Pictured after she started taking the jabs

According to the NHS, a BMI of 30 or above is classified as obese, meaning Amy is just over the threshold.

Her daily diet now looks dramatically different too, with fruit for breakfast and vegetables as snacks throughout the day, followed by meals such as chicken, rice and vegetables for dinner, with the occasional takeaway or dessert at weekends. 

To help boost her weight loss, Amy also walks around 15,000 steps a day.

While she said she has ‘some loose skin’, she does exercises at home to try to combat this.

‘I can see it on the scales, but I think I had a bit of body dysmorphia – I couldn’t really see the changes on my body until I looked at photos,’ she explained.

She is now a much more active mother, taking her children out to play every day, and no longer shies away from socialising.

Amy said: ‘I’ve met up with women who are also on Mounjaro who I’ve met through TikTok.

‘We all went out in Manchester and I would have never been able to do that before.

‘I feel a lot more confident now – people compliment me more and it just gives me a huge boost.’

Looking ahead, Amy hopes to lose another stone and, following guidance from her GP and pharmacist, plans to stay on the medication to maintain her weight loss.

To others wanting to lose weight, she said: ‘Just do it. If I can, anyone else can.’

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